Chapter 59: Delivered

It was late at night in the hospital. The nurse on duty at the front desk was calmly reading her magazine, she briefly checked the clock, it was 0134. Once again, she had pulled the graveyard shift. Nurse Redheart didn't have much to pass down, just the usual. Keep an eye on the patients in case of an emergency, especially who was pretty badly injured, but stable. One of the other nurses was gossiping a little about the strange way he had come in. Apparently, some strange contraption of a flying machine had landed just outside the door. A unicorn stallion had barged in with a pegasus in his magical grasp, the weird two legged guy that live out of town followed him in, clothes all a mess and stinking of vomit.

The nurse was glad that all the excitement of the day had already happened before she had had to deal with it. Once again, she expected to be in for another quiet night reading her magazines and making the occasional patrol through the quiet building. She glanced at the clock again, it was now 0142. A slow one as well. As she sat there turning the pages, the front double doors swung open, the clatter of hooves on the clean white tile loud in the early morning. Without looking up, the nurse went into her usual rhetoric.

"Visiting hours are over, please come back between ten this morning and five o'clock tonight. If you are injured but it's not an emergency, please take a seat in the waiting room and fill out this form and a doctor will be with you shortly." She said lethargically, placing a clipboard with an attached piece of paper onto the counter in front of her.

"I apologize for coming to you at this late hour. However, while this isn't an emergency, it is urgent."

"I'm sorry ma'am, but these are the hospital rul--"

The nurse stopped as she looked up and saw who she was talking to.

"P-Princess Celestia! My sincerest apologies, I had no idea--"

"Please do not fret, my little pony. You are only doing your job. My subordinate and I only wish to speak with your most recent guest, if at all possible."

The nurse looked over and saw that beside the Princess' usual accompaniment of guards, the two legged guy was with her, standing silently next to her, an almost menacing air about him. He was now in a fresh, clean uniform, no longer reeking of puke.

"Y-Yes your majesty, I'll go fetch the doctor!"

The nurse scrambled out from behind her desk and galloped down the hall to where the doctor on call was resting. While she did that, Celestia and James took a seat in the waiting room.

"Are you sure you want to talk to him now? It might be better if we wait until morning when he's had his rest." James said.

"I would like to speak with him as soon as is possible. If the doctor tells us that he unfit to speak with us, then we shall return at a later time."

They waited for a moment longer before the nurse finally returned with the doctor on call.

"Your majesty, what can I help you with? Ah, James! Long time, no see, I'm glad to say."

"Doctor Stable, what's it been, almost a year now?"

"Just about. You know you really should have let me take a look at that arm injury you received after that Canterlot incident. You could have been in a bad way if it got infected, you were lucky that the bone wasn't scratched."

"Sorry Doc, I had work to do."

"Hm, well next time come to me. Removing stitches hastily pit in by pirates on your own usually doesn't turn out so well."

"I'll keep that in mind, Doc."

"I'm sure you will. Now, Princess Celestia, in what manner may I assist you?"

Celestia stood up and approached the doctor, "Earlier today, you received a rather badly injured, turquoise coated pegasus. If it is at all possible, I wish to speak with him."

"Oh, I'm afraid he was quite difficult to stabilize, we only just got his vitals up hours ago. In my professional opinion, I think it would be best if he got some rest before he has any visitors."

"Please, this is very important."

"Well, I'll check on him, but I can't promise you anything, your majesty."

"All I ask is that you try."

Doctor Stable turned and left, heading down the passage way to the patient wings. It wasn't much longer before he returned it a baffled look on his face.

"Well uh, it seems he is awake! What's more, he's asking to speak to you, James." The doctor told them.

"Really?"

"Indeed, says he has a message he will only deliver to you."

"That so. Lead the way, Doc."

Doctor Stable took the Princess and her human companion down the corridor past the reception desk and up a flight of stairs to the rooms the patients were kept in overnight. He led them a little further past rooms with many injured ponies. James peered curiously into the windows as he passed, looking at the variety of bandaged and taped up patients that filled the wards. He almost walked completely past one room, but did a double take and retreated back to the window, pausing as he looked in. The doctor noticed this and trotted back to his side.

"Don't worry now, she just has a mild sprain at the base of her wing." Doctor Stable was talking about a sleeping cyan pegasus mare with one of her wings extended and wrapped in a cast, "We're just keeping her overnight to make sure the cast sets properly. Tomorrow she'll be good to go, and in a few days, flying again."

"What happened to her?" James asked, concerned.

"Nothing too serious, just a little mishap with a stray cloud, some trees and an unexpected gust of wind. That storm the weather service put together was a real doozy."

The group resumed their journey down the hall, James made a mental note to drop by and see Dash in the morning. They came to the end of the hall and stopped at the last room on the right. Inside was the pegasus James and Sparks had brought in previously. He was sitting up and awake. His wing was set and extended out with a cast, half his head was fully bandaged, covering his missing ear. His hind leg was also set in a cast and hoisted in a sling above the bed, the bolt that was embedded in it had been removed. The rest of his body was almost entirely encased in stark white gauze.

James cautiously entered with Celestia at his side, the pony in the bed perked up and sat at attention when he saw them approaching. Celestia was horrified at the extent of the pegasus' injuries, mixed feelings of compassion and pity crossing her face. James just calmly strode forward and took a spot at the edge of the bed.

"You feeling a little better?"

"You, you're James Kaughn, right?" Were the first words out of the pegasus' mouth. His voice was still cracked and hoarse.

"Yes I am. Princess Celestia is here with us also. I'm told you have a message for me. I think you mentioned Captain Ken while we were bringing you in."

"Y-Yes. I was aboard the Captain's ship retrieving the next report to deliver to you."

"You're my contact from Van Hoover?"

"Yes. I was almost set to go when we were attacked. They came outta no where!"

"You were attacked on the ship, wouldn't have you seen them coming?"

"The ship was in anchorage in a harbor at one of the islands in the western sea."

"Is that where you got your injuries?" James asked.

"No. The Captain fought off our attackers while I escaped. I received my wounds when I paused for rest on the main land."

"Please don't tell me the fleet landed." James said with fear, a cold lump settling in his stomach.

"No, they're still weeks away, but they're coming. The ones that attacked me were a scouting party. I-I think."

"Can you show me where on a map?" James asked calmly.

"N-No. But I can tell you where. I was just northwest of White Tail Woods."

"Is there anything else you can tell us?"

"I'm sorry, that's all I know."

"It's ok. Thanks for passing on the warning, you probably saved some lives with it. Try and get some sleep now, that was an incredible thing you did, flying all the way here from the coast with those injuries." The human complimented.

"Thank you. I-I'll try, but I haven't been able to."

Celestia came forward to the pegasus' side, "Good citizen, what is your name?"

"Y-Your majesty, it-it's Breeze, Sea Breeze." He answered meekly.

"Sleep well Sea Breeze," she gently placed the tip of her horn on his forehead, "you have done us all a great service. Now rest and recover swiftly."

The Princess' horn flashed and the pegasus went out like a light, his head gently falling back onto his pillow. James watched for a moment, the pony's chest calmly rising and falling with peaceful breaths. After a moment, they both left the room. The doctor was waiting outside and rushed in to check on his patient as soon as they exited.

"This is troubling news." Celestia remarked.

"Any news of war is. I'm concerned that they have soldiers on the mainland already, they may be trying to set up a beachhead. I'll have my people double patrols in the region." James replied to her. "Captain Shining Armor has an evac plan in place for the population centers close by, right?"

"Yes, I'll have him set on task in the morning."

"Sounds good ma'am, with a little luck this could go... ok."

"Just 'ok', Commander?" Celestia inquired.

"It's a war ma'am, not a planned event. No matter how much we prepare, almost nothing will go as planned. There are just too many variables to account for. The best we can do is be flexible and adapt to the situation."

"Hmm... spoken with wisdom."

"Not wisdom ma'am, just experience. I haven't been around long enough to call it wisdom."

"Even so. And what about yourself, Commander? How are you now?"

Knowing what she was asking, James searched his thoughts for the answer, "I'm... better, than I was before." He said with some uncertainty

"I see... That at least is good to hear. Please excuse me, James, it is late and I have much to do in the morning."

"I understand, goodnight ma'am."

"Goodnight."

The regal princess of the sun turned and strode down the passageway to the stairs that would take her back down to her entourage and on her way back to Canterlot. From the opposite direction, Doctor Stable trotted up beside the human.

"I couldn't help but overhear, is there something major happening elsewhere that I should know about?" The good doctor asked.

"You could say that, Doc. I can't be specific right now, but I can say this: it would probably be a good idea to stock up on medical supplies while you have the time."

"Is that so? Well, I'll take that advice into consideration."

James slowly walked down the corridor to the window of the room that contained the mare with the rainbow mane. He peered silently into the room, thinking of the events to come. The doctor followed him over, gazing at the same sleeping form that James was studying.

"You know, we have a small flower shop here in the hospital. It's closed now, but I think I have the key around here somewhere, you could surprise her with something in the morning. I think it would make her release that much more special." Doctor Stable suggested.

"Yeah, I think so too. Do you mind?"

"Not at all, son, not at all."

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Dark rebounding shadows. Deep reverberating tones, more felt than heard, echoing through out an infinite vacuum of black hate and foreboding. Flashes of red anger, thick loathing and murderous thoughts like lightning in a storm. He couldn't feel his body. He couldn't see it. He couldn't see. And yet it felt as if all these sensations were like a dervish of blades whipping around and tearing through his insides.

Then an impact. And another. And another. His world around him began to shake and tremor, bright cracks spreading across the darkness of his heart. All of a sudden, a sharp sound of shattering glass as the whole façade came crashing down, exposing him to a bright warm light. Off in the distance, the voice of an angel, scratchy and tough, yet still sweet, gently called to him.

"James... get up...."

"James.... you have to get up now....."

"JAMES!"

His eyes shot open. He was in a brightly lit hospital room, the sun falling warmly on his face from the open window he sat in the chair next to. In front of him, Rainbow Dash had her hooves on his shoulder, gently shaking him to rouse him from his slumber. Dash dropped back down to all four hooves as James stretched his arms over his head and yawned.

"Sorry about that, I must've dozed off." He said.

He looked at her, her short cut mane was a little scruffy, it seemed she had also just awoken. Her left wing was still held stiffly in place by a simple combination of a short cast and some bandages, sticking out from her side and fully extended.

"That's ok sleepy head," she chuckled, "I'm glad you're here." She leaned forward and gave him a peck on the cheek. "What ya got there?" She asked, pointing to a small conical plastic bag sitting in his lap.

He picked it up, "Just a little get well soon present."

James carefully removed the plastic covering and revealed seven fresh cut roses. There were some in the more traditional colors; red, yellow and white. But others were of a magically created variety; purple, orange, green and blue.

"I didn't know what color you'd want, so I just got them all."

"Oh, thank Celestia! This hospital food is the worst."

She quickly snapped up the rose petals, happily munching on them and savoring the taste while a confused James looked on. She swallowed her snack and pulled the still befuddled human into a hug.

"Thanks James, I needed that."

"Uh... you're welcome?"

"C'mon, let's get outta here. I've spent way too much time indoors now, I wanna get and go do something."

James stood up and stretched his back and legs, "Sounds good. Let's go, lunch on me."

The two left the room and went down to the front desk to check out. Much to the weather mare's annoyance, they made her leave in a wheelchair even though she could walk fine, something she continuously pointed out as James wheeled her through the front door and into the golden morning light. As Dash hopped from her seat and took her spot next to James, he thought; even with all the crap he'd been through, all the pain, at least he was lucky enough to have what he now had. And then he didn't feel so bad.